


A candle in the night

by E_J



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:27:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23162470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E_J/pseuds/E_J
Summary: Very little is known about the woman who raised Killian Jones. She was fierce and amazing, and this is her story.
Relationships: Brennan Jones / Alice Jones
Kudos: 5





	A candle in the night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KevinLA](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KevinLA/gifts).



> This story happens in the same universe as my previous one and can be read as a precuel but they haven't been writen as a series. So you don't need to read one to understand the other.
> 
> As always English is not my first language and and this story hasn't been beta read. All mistakes are mine.  
> Every comment and suggestion is appreciated and encouraged.

There was once a woman with hair red as fire and eyes bluest than the ocean. She was happy and generous. She was too good for this world. Burning away like a candle left to guide people back home in a stormy night. 

Her name was Alice. And this is her story. 

****

Alice was born in a little village by the sea. An only child of a fisherman and a midwife. Life was simple. She helped her mother during the day collecting herbs and assisting women. Later, she went to the port to help her father with the catch of the day, cleaning up the boat and the gear afterwards. Once they were done, they walked back home and prepared dinner for Alice's mum. And off to bed to start all over again in the morning. It wasn't much, but she didn't knew anything else. 

However, she dreamt dreams bigger than her tiny house and little village. She longed for the sea, to go farther away than her father went every day. Farther away than anyone she knew had ever gone. She wanted to see the world, explore the oceans and discover new lands. 

She was ready to make her own path, not minding all the people who told her to stay still and be good. But her parents knew what she felt like, she got it from the after all, and, while worried, they encouraged her to seek her own destiny. To stand up and rise above every person that told her she couldn't do something. To prove them wrong. 

She grew up, with her future in mind and her heart waiting for adventure. And it did come. It come in the way of a young sailor. He worked in one of the odd ships that made port after a nasty weather looking for rest and food. They made click in a moment. She saw in him her chance to go away and he saw in her a passion like never before. It took some convincing but after proving to the Captain that she had knowledge in healing he agreed to take her aboard. 

It was difficult at first, all alone surrounded by unknown men, missing her parents and her home. But she found in Brennan, the young sailor, not only a saviour but a friend. She knew her way around a ship, and with her knowledge in herbs she became respected by the crew fast enough. 

*****

After several weeks of traveling, visiting new places and meeting new people, they reached their destination. By then, Alice had grown into everyone in the crew and become friends with almost everyone, specifically Brennan. She was happier than she had ever been but a very difficult decision was coming her way, a decision that will change her life more than had already been changed. 

Brennan was not going back into the sea when the ship was finished to get ready. He had made enough money and was going back to his hometown to buy his own ship and start his own business. 

Alice was heartbroken. What had started as just an opportunity had soon become friendship. And without her noticing that friendship had become something else. She wasn't sure if she could call it love just yet, but she knew it was deeper than just friendship. And she didn't think she was ready to let it go, even if that meant she would had to leave the ship and the life she had been wanting for so long. 

It took some meditating, and a heartfelt conversation with the captain, but in the end she packed the few possessions she'd brought with her and hand in hand left with Brennan to a new life. 

****

Alice was happy. Months had passed since she left the ship to go and settle with Brennan in his hometown and she could not believe how happy she was to be doing pretty much what she had been doing most of her life. It reminded her of her parents and she finally understood how they were so happy even though they weren't living the adventures they had always wanted. 

With the money he has earned during his time at the ship, Brennan has bought a ship of his own and started a little trading business. She, still aching for the sea, went with him in his travels and life could had not been any more perfect. 

After a year of this new life, they got married and not long after she became pregnant. 

They were over the moon. The timing was a little less than perfect, the business was not going great and a child was expensive. But they were happy. They were starting a family of their own and it was perfect. 

But no matter how short their trips were, they knew being at sea was dangerous for a pregnant woman, so begrudgingly Alice stayed back and started working as a midwife trying to save enough money for when their child arrived. 

It was hard, with Brennan at sea and she having to stay behind, but at the end he stopped his travels staying with her and dotting her. 

However everything was worth, every tear and lonely moment, proved worthy when she held her child in her arms, admiring the little life she and Brennan had made. 

****

A boy. Liam. A little child half hers and half Brennan. Her firstborn. Brennan stayed back for a while. Caring for her and their child, but when money started to get short he had to go away at sea again. 

It was bittersweet. She was ecstatic. She loved her son to pieces and would die for him in a heartbeat. But she was sad. Sad that Brennan was away, that he was missing his son's life. But there was nothing to it. Her own father had been away at sea at time and they all were happy. They just need to find the way to make it work. 

At first whenever Brennan was back at home they would spend the day together all three of them. He would spend every single time with Liam, looking after him and playing with him. But at time passed and the emotion of becoming a parent washed away he started spending less and less time with them, saying that he had business to attend. 

By the time Liam was 4 they would barely see Brennan and when she discovered she was pregnant again she was worried. Worried of what would happen to this new child, how would Brennan react to the news of having a second child when he barely paid attention to their first one. She was worried he would take it badly and spend more and more time at sea and she would have to see her little boy's eyes tear up when she told him that daddy wasn't going back home that night. Her sweet, little Liam, who looked up at his dad as he hung the moon. 

But Alice was strong, she would have this child, and she would give them all the love their dad wasn't giving. She was going to rise her children with or without their father's help. 

Surprisingly Brennan was happy when she told him about the pregnancy. He was shocked but happy and when she called him out about his behaviour he promised to change. And he did. Suddenly after years of pretty much being just her and Liam, Brennan was back all in once again. He dotted and cared for her, made sure she was fine and healthy. Started spending time with Liam, just the two of them. He would stay home when she had to go to work and would take care for Liam while she was away. They started going out with the ship in short trips, and Brennan started teaching Liam to sail. It was, once again, perfect. 

She was still a bit wary, worried things would go back to normal once the child was born, but for the moment she would let herself enjoy the family life, listening to her sweet child’s laugh as he played with his father. 

****

A boy. Another boy. A boy that was the spitting image of his father. Where Liam was all fair hair and light features just as her, Killian was dark hair and features that, even with the softness of a newborn baby, promised a future of strong, sharp angles. He was a miniature of Brennan from hair to toe. All but his eyes. His eyes, just like his brother’s, were all hers. 

It was a strange feeling, doing it all over again; the night feedings, the changings and the cryings. Except Killian wasn’t much of a cryer. He would just lie there, looking angrily at you until you figure out what he needed. It was complicated, she never thought she would miss Liam’s cries, but it was easier to know what the kid needed by the cries. But she was thankful as well. Their house was small and she didn’t want to deal with an annoyed, sleep-deprived Liam as well as with a perpetually angry Killian. 

But things got easier as Killian grew. Liam and him bonded like she had never seen before between two brothers and Liam soon seemed to understand Killian better than she could, knowing what he needed even before he could glare her with his I-need-something-and-you-better-figure-out-what-right-now look. Brennan also was all in with Killian, spending with him as much time as he could without neglecting Liam. 

Life was beautiful. She didn’t think it could last, but it did and she was grateful for it. 

Unfortunately for her, her life wasn’t meant to be a happily ever after kind of story.

****

Years had gone by. They didn’t have any more children but it didn’t matter to them, they didn’t need them. Her beautiful little family was perfect. Brennan’s business was going well and so did her job as midwife, almost every single woman in town went to her for remedies and advices. Liam and Killian would usually help her out, just as she did with her mother, but occasionally Brennan would take them out on the ship, teaching them the business and how to sail. 

It was a little after Killian’s 5th birthday when she started to notice that something was odd. She felt like she was coming down with a cold but neither of her remedies did anything to make her feel better. However she didn’t tell Brennan anything and kept on as usual, not wanting to scare her husband or sons. 

But despite her knowledge in healing and all the different remedies she had tried nothing seemed to work. Ever week that went by she felt worse and worse. One day, while Brennan took the kids out on the ship, she secretly seeked the help of a physician some towns over. 

The news were discouraging, she suffered a cruel illness. While it was slow in its developing, it was lethal and there was no remedy for it. She was condemned to lose her health and and her life knowing there was nothing she could do about it. Worst even, her children would see her wither slowly and eventually die; still too young to understand why their mum wasn’t playing with them any longer. 

She needed to tell Brennan. He deserved and needed to know what was happening, what was going to happen. 

And so she did. She made a special dinner for when the boys got back home. Brennan favourite meal and the kid’s favourite desserts. They were ecstatic, Brennan knew something was going on but said nothing, waiting for her to open up in her own time. They had dinner and played with their kids afterwards, finally getting them to sleep after some bedtime stories. And then, she sat Brennan down and told him what she had discovered. He was angry and sad. Angry that she hadn’t tell him what was happening to her and sad of what their future held. 

But there was nothing to it, and she was determined to live however long she had fully, enjoying every single second with her kids and husbands. 

At first it was easy to pretend everything was alright. The boys were surprised when she told them that she was going to quit working to spend more time with them. But it didn’t really matter to them, their mum was going to stay with them all the time and that was too great to question. 

However, as time passed she grew sicker and sicker and they started to notice something was wrong. First was Liam, noticing his mum was not as fast as before and that she couldn’t play for as long. He started to slow down, to play calmer games, choosing books and table games over the ball, always keeping an eye on her. Killian, bless his soul, was still too young to notice any change in his mum. 

But not even that lasted for too long. Eventually Killian too noticed how his mother couldn’t keep up with them anymore and took upon him to always have her within his view, his big concerned blue eyes following her like a hawk. 

By the time Killian turned 7 she was too sick to go outside for long and started to spent most of her days lying in bed. With her quitting her job a couple years before and the medicines and herbs she needed, they could not afford for Brennan to also quit his, so it was up to her children to look after her and each other. 

But she didn’t let that destroy her spirit. She made sure her kids felt safe and as happy as the situation allowed until her very last breath, making everyday a party and making her kids laugh and enjoy themselves despite her illness.

It was not long after Killian’s 8th birthday when she died, taking with her the joy and the laughs. She didn’t know, neither of them did, but she was the reason they were a family, and with her gone, things fell apart very quickly. Brennan would turn into alcohol and gambling and eventually, not a year after her death he would sold their children into slavery. 

But for the following years, everytime life was hard, the Jones boys would remember their mother and her smile, and even in death, Alice would bring peace to her beloved sons.

****

“She sounds very nice, Daddy”

“Aye, that she was”

“Do you miss her?”

“Every day”

“I wish I could have met her”

“Want to know a little secret? Even if you never got to meet her, your gramma Alice is always with you, watching after you and taking care of you. Just like your uncle Liam is. And whenever you feel sad you just think of her. I know you don’t know how she looked like but you don’t need to, just picture her fire red hair and her blue eyes, the very same you and I have, and imagine her smile, and she would bring you peace, she would bring you home”

“Like a candle in the night, Daddy?”

“Aye, little love, just like a candle in the night”


End file.
